E300DE hybrid estate

[kotecki]

I feel your pain. Ive had a E400d estate on order since begining of September, delivery date has been and gone, no one knows if / when the car will be delivered. I ordered in the AMG Line Edition, and similar to you, that option is no longer available, and I cannot get an answer from the dealer or customer services as to whether they can supply as specified. Customer services were about as much use as a chocolate teapot when I raised a complaint, and could provide no information whatsoever other than "speak to the dealer". I'm tempted to cancel, but sods law says if I do, a car allocation will come up the next day.
Really not impressed with Mercedes as a company at the moment (love the cars though)

hi BillyBoy
I am in the exact same boat but I appreciate your input as I was suspecting this was sheer incompetence on the part of our dealer.

What I am finding out is that Mercedes-Benz UK are importing 'X' number of AMG-Line Hybrid vehicles all with vinyl seats and these vehicles are being sold without any problems, indeed our dealer has stated it would be very hard to source us a vehicle because of this. I have no idea if the E400D is in a similar position but what I do not understand is why both your order and our order was not passed onto Germany as soon as it was placed. Leaving the order on a notepad in a dealership for three or four months is fraught with danger.

My wife loves her E320CDi and it took a lot of effort to persuade her we should consider replacing it (we have had it from new and it is now 15 years old) Before this vehicle we had replaced our Mercedes every two or three years but we had kitted our current vehicle out with 'the prefect options' and this is what we did with its replacement but I am now getting the feeling this new car might no longer be available.

Southern Ireland is an option but it looks like their vehicles are more expensive..... But they are just a phone call away.

 

[kotecki]

Thought I would update this thread as I am stuck at home with nothing to do.

Southern Ireland was not an option on two counts, the first being that no further orders were being taken for new, privately specced E-class and then the price differences between our two countries is eye-watering. The sales manager was as to be expected, both first-class and extremely helpful.

I confess that the senior management for our large dealership were eventually extremely sympathetic. The car I ordered in the summer was now no longer available. The only way I could have the hybrid AMG-Line with leather seats was to have this done by an upholsterer and that is simply NOT a course I am prepared to steer.

My hope is that when the new model is released we can stipulate the options I wanted in the original order we placed but obviously we accept there will be new options and possibly some of the 'wants' might not be available but our fingers are crossed.

We are perfectly happy with our 2004 vehicle and if this new e-class does not tick all our boxes, then our pride and joy will stay with us for another 16yrs which would mean the mobilo lifetime warranty will have expired

 

[BillyBoy]

Thought I would update this thread as I am stuck at home with nothing to do.

Southern Ireland was not an option on two counts, the first being that no further orders were being taken for new, privately specced E-class and then the price differences between our two countries is eye-watering. The sales manager was as to be expected, both first-class and extremely helpful.

I confess that the senior management for our large dealership were eventually extremely sympathetic. The car I ordered in the summer was now no longer available. The only way I could have the hybrid AMG-Line with leather seats was to have this done by an upholsterer and that is simply NOT a course I am prepared to steer.

My hope is that when the new model is released we can stipulate the options I wanted in the original order we placed but obviously we accept there will be new options and possibly some of the 'wants' might not be available but our fingers are crossed.

We are perfectly happy with our 2004 vehicle and if this new e-class does not tick all our boxes, then our pride and joy will stay with us for another 16yrs which would mean the mobilo lifetime warranty will have expired

Well while we're in the update game

In the end I had to change to an All Terrain after MB confirmed they could not build the spec I had ordered. Still took a long time to get an allocation, and with the original delivery date of 19th Dec well past, I finally got a slot in late January, with an actual build date of April 8th and delivery 16th. Waited patiently, then found the change to Road Tax would bite me and so phoned the dealer to see if they could register before build and before 1st April tosto the big hike in road tax. They then told be the build date had come forward, and the car would be built mid March and should be at the dealer in 2nd April, and they could tax as soon as it landed in the UK, which would be before the April change - Woo Hoo!.

Unfortunately, Covid-19 then hit, and thou the car is built, it is now sat at port in Holland waiting to be shipped which MAY happen in June . Just hope it is worth the wait, but 9 months from order to delivery, and not the car I ordered - really not that impressed with Mercedes and unlikely to buy new again.

 

[grayb]

Unfortunately, Covid-19 then hit, and thou the car is built, it is now sat at port in Holland waiting to be shipped which MAY happen in June . Just hope it is worth the wait, but 9 months from order to delivery, and not the car I ordered - really not that impressed with Mercedes and unlikely to buy new again.

I know that Covid-19 wasn't M-B's fault, but... you've got to think that they have treated customers pretty badly with all this, even before the virus hit. Their order handling and production schedules seem to have been a shambles.

 

[BillyBoy]

I know that Covid-19 wasn't M-B's fault, but... you've got to think that they have treated customers pretty badly with all this, even before the virus hit. Their order handling and production schedules seem to have been a shambles.

Totally. Unfortunately I suspect that the private buyer, especially in the C Class and E Class space is bottom of the MB priority list as they will want to go after the big fleet orders and satisfy them. I'd expect any surplus from that turns up in the showroom ready built with no chance to specify options. MB are probably not unique here either - I wouldn't be surprised if other "premium" brands are not the same chasing the 10,000 car fleet / lease orders rather than the individual wanting a specific specification.

 

[kotecki]

I know that Covid-19 wasn't M-B's fault, but... you've got to think that they have treated customers pretty badly with all this, even before the virus hit. Their order handling and production schedules seem to have been a shambles.

I think Billyboy is as usual talking a lot of sense and rather than blame Mercedes-Benz for this so called lack of options, in my opinion, the blame lays solely and wholly in the lap of Mercedes-Benz UK. This outfit does not give a flying fig about what the private customer wants. They have taken away our choice of what options we want. they believe they know best what I or anyone else wants in our new car and Mercedes-Benz UK have then rode rough shode over what options UK imported carts will have.

I say this publicly and dare Mercedes-Benz UK to disagree.

Mercedes-Benz the manufacturer supply vehicles to the Republic of Ireland and the cars they export to that country have the options that are blocked by Mercedes-Benz UK.

Hopefully when the new model E-class becomes available then Mercedes-Benz will do a little less OF MY THINKING. Hopefully they will allow me to stipulate the options I want as opposed to options that Mercedes-Benz UK want me to have.

Sadly I believe the voice of the individual will not be heard but I do know that if I cannot buy what I want, then I will simply look elsewhere and yes, I confess to looking at the Audi range of larger cars. But I will be waiting until July

 

[Ash1969]

Hi, does anyone know the Mercedes W??? number for the latest E300de hybrid please been googling for ages with no luck :-(

 

[MBDevotee]

Just speak to the dp at the dealer and cancel the whole order.

It’s not their fault, but they should then kick the area manager, who hopefully will log yet another cancelled order... eventually they will get the message.....

 

[Srdl]

Hi, does anyone know the Mercedes W??? number for the latest E300de hybrid please been googling for ages with no luck :-(

Should be W213 - check the VIN number though, will start WDD then the first three numbers should be 213

Mercedes-Benz E-Class (W213) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Srdl]

Just speak to the dp at the dealer and cancel the whole order.

It’s not their fault, but they should then kick the area manager, who hopefully will log yet another cancelled order... eventually they will get the message.....

Old thread!

 

[MBDevotee]

Oops - wonder what happened in the end?

 

[ajlsl600]

I think if the 300De was offered in Europe with a choice of leather interior, then I would go doo-laly, but is it.

Off my topic perhaps but as i said in an earlier post, we have had our current e-class from new and it is 15 years old... Quick story. We had the wheels replaced twice under warranty due to that horrible corrosion these wheels all suffer from. Once out of the 3 year warranty I was on my own so... I ordered a set of Mercedes wheels from Mercedes in Germany. identical wheels to what was on the car, these wheels have been on the car for fourteen years and I defy anyone to find ANY trace of corrosion??? WHY?

Why did the UK wheels corrode so easily and yet our German wheels are quite clearly immune??

With the discount we got, we have not quite spent £50k but I agree it is crazy, the vehicle is an AMG-Line and yet the proper AMG does have a choice of colours.

I thought Designio gives you the choice of both paint colours and different coloured leathers, but Nooooo. I spoke to someone at Milton Keynes as our dealership told me there were only a restricted Designio for the E-class (white or red paint) This was confirmed and I was told the full Designio was only available for the GLS and the S-class

Thank you for the Autocar link and hopefully the car will only be using the electric motor for most of my wife's journeys No vehicle tax and no refuelling

Good luck.hope all works.
For me if i am spending 50k on a car ,i WILL be choosing colours ,extras if I cant get it. I will go to a.maker where I can.simples..

 

[Janchee]

I had a 300de last August as a courtesy. It was alright, nothing like the new 3 series or 5 series. But I have to admit, I got a good mpg out of the hybrid system. Loved the way it did the regen automatically for traffic in front or lower speed limits. Felt like it calculated the distance and the rate it would take to decelerate and do it all itself. I must’ve got 55+ easy from it.

 

[grayb]

I had a 300de last August as a courtesy. It was alright, nothing like the new 3 series or 5 series. But I have to admit, I got a good mpg out of the hybrid system. Loved the way it did the regen automatically for traffic in front or lower speed limits. Felt like it calculated the distance and the rate it would take to decelerate and do it all itself. I must’ve got 55+ easy from it. View attachment 65520

Andrew Frankl from Autocar had one on long term test for several months and was quite complimentary about it.

 

[kotecki]

Lots of very interesting posts since I was last online.

Does it really matter if 'X' percentage of countries drive on the wrong side of the road?

In the 21st century I would like to think that ordering a car is a case of ticking boxes, these boxes then create an order form that in turn is then fed into a computer and the car we order is then churned out with the relevant options.

I ordered my car in a country that does indeed drive on the wrong side of the road.

One of the boxes I ticked was for a RHD UK specced car. No issues, no problems.

I ordered an E-class petrol hybrid estate something Mercedes-Benz UK have decided we do not want. The car also has light beige nappa leather interior, dash-cam garage door opening and lots of other goodies.

We are the customer and here in the UK Mercedes-Benz are the dictator that tells us what options we can have and they have put these options into packages. If you do not like it then tough.

The sad thing is though that Mercedes-Benz Uk are based at Milton Keynes and that dealership had a slightly more flexible approach regarding what we can have and what we cannot have.

At one stage I was thinking about having a designo colour and not the grey or white that is in the brochure. I wanted that E-class 2004 beige type paint but my local dealere told me that the only designo colours I could have were those in the online brochure, namely grey or I think white?

No matter what dealer I spoke with, that was the answer until one day someone suggested I should contact the Milton Keyne dealership and guess what??

I could have ANY Mercedes colour I wanted, indeed I could have ANY colour we wanted but it did come with an understandable cost!!!

WHY?? Why is only one dealership in the whole of the UK able to offer this option? I should have carried on and asked if I could have had a spec we eventually ordered from the EU.

Finally contrary to what a lot of folks had stated, there were NO extra tariffs when buying a car from Europe. This is our new and as yet unregistered car and I have put a comparison image of what I could have ordered in the UK. I am NOT saying either example is better, I could have ordered the AMG-Line from Europe. I simply prefered what we eventually ordered

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Good to know your perseverance paid off and you got the spec you wanted in the end - hope you enjoy the car.
I can only think that MBUK can sell their annual quota without the myriad of options (which maximises profits) that used to be available. My S212 was registered in 2012 and was available with any spec you wanted - I believe this all changed with the introduction of the 212 facelift in 2013

 

[kotecki]

Good to know your perseverance paid off and you got the spec you wanted in the end - hope you enjoy the car.
I can only think that MBUK can sell their annual quota without the myriad of options (which maximises profits) that used to be available. My S212 was registered in 2012 and was available with any spec you wanted - I believe this all changed with the introduction of the 212 facelift in 2013

Spot on Malcolm
For a period of time the E-class AMG-Line in the UK......Was only available with Artico leather something Mercedes UK stated was the best selling choice for that model.

You cannot argue with statistics. If you only sell vinyl covered seats (Aritico leather) then guess what?? Vinyl would be the most popular choice!! Yup straight from the mouth of Mercedes-Benz UK.

Sadly the days of the great majority of folks wanting to order their Mercedes-Benz and wait for possibly four months whilst it is being built are gone. The majority of their customers nowadays want to walk into a showroom, see a car they like and buy that vehicle there and then. It would not be good business to individualize their stock, but surely they could hold back a number of slots for those customers that want what THEY want? Man made leather..... I have never seen a cow with a skin made from plastic and surely their 'skin' is what we call leather? Leather = 'a material made from the skin of an animal by tanning or a similar process'..

 

[kotecki]

I've posted a number of shots of the new car on the pictures thread but thought I had better explain what some of these images are of, plus for those that think it is way too difficult to keep a light coloured interior clean, I will also attach a picture of the rear of our 2004 E-class which we sold a few months ago. That interior was immaculate and the wife used to chuck the garden waste in that rear compartment but yes it would be in black polythene bags. She also used to chauffeur our long-haired German Shepherd in that rear compartment and when that dog's coat was wet, boy did it make a mess, but this picture was taken in June 2021 when the car was 17yrs old, keeping a light coloured interior clean is definitely not difficult.

Another picture shows the rear interior of a UK car with beige interior but a black rear compartment!! The comparison shows our vehicle with the matching rear interior.

When I ordered the wife's car a beige leather interior was not an option. Mercedes-Benz had however relented with their arbitrary decision of black vinyl and we had the option of BLACK vinyl, or BLACK leather!!!! I have nothing against having a black interior, it is all about choice and at least Mercedes UK are slowly giving customers more choice. The last time I checked, light-coloured nappa leather interiors were still not an option.

Oh and the shot showing three buttons was a picture taken by the salesperson to show me the car was coming with the garage door\gate opening and security light feature. Any questions then please feel free to ask.

 

[grayb]

I would be with you, Kotecki, with regards to the specification you've chosen. Much more to my liking than what MB-UK insist on offering the UK market. My problem is that I would never be ordering a new car - we only buy used. This means that we would be reliant on finding an exceptional car originally specified by someone like you. Or we buy one with a black interior and get it re-coloured - the suggestion of our local MB dealer principal when we had a discussion about All-Terrains recently.

 

[kotecki]

I would be with you, Kotecki, with regards to the specification you've chosen. Much more to my liking than what MB-UK insist on offering the UK market. My problem is that I would never be ordering a new car - we only buy used. This means that we would be reliant on finding an exceptional car originally specified by someone like you. Or we buy one with a black interior and get it re-coloured - the suggestion of our local MB dealer principal when we had a discussion about All-Terrains recently.

You make some excellent points and I guess it is possible to have a car re-upholstered but by crikey would it take an expert to make it look, and last to the same standard of the original.

I think we got the taste for buying new from our relationship with our local Mercedes dealership who sadly lost their franchaise as they were not what is now fashionably called the 'corporate image'.

Coverdale of Torbay, a very small dealership, where the customer was treated with respect and indeed spoilt We would sit on a settee or armchairs, the boss would chat with us, we might talk about health, families, whatever and this was just friendly small talk which was not a compulsory feature.

We would then get down to the nitty gritty and talk about what model we wanted and then look at different samples of the interior to decide what interior we wanted. Then the colour I smile because there were upteen different colours and they had pieces of metal each depicting the correct colour. Then the chat about the 'toys' we could have in the model we wanted. Finally, we would then negotiate a fair price which was always enjoyable and left you feeling like you have been treated fairly.

On the day of collection, we would spend ten minutes or so being shown around the car and how to operate all the features of this new vehicle and then....... Out would come the wife of the dealer, give my wife a beautiful bouquet of flowers and little old me, a bottle of rum!! That dealership won my loyalty and I guess now, we still like to look at that options list and specify what we want, NOT what Mercedes-Benz UK tell us what we want.

A silly example of choosing an option we have grown used to.

We are that odd couple that still parks our vehicle in the garage. When leaving, or approaching this garage, we have a button conveniently located on the underside of the interior mirror. One press and hey presto the door either opens or closes. a feature we have grown used to but good old Mercedes-Benz UK have decided we cannot have. These buttons can also be programmed to open gates or turn on security lights. Three buttons that can be programmed to do three different things.

I'm a huge fan of Mercedes diesel-powered cars but I'm just not sure about all the latest legislation. Mercedes-Benk UK has decided that E-class estate customers cannot have the petrol version!!! Unbelievable, and just who do they think we are?

So to end all this waffle, we are fortunate enough to be able to give the finger to our Mercedes dictator and fortunate enough to be able to buy new from the EU and the nitty gritty... Specify whatever options we want and yes, my wife loves this new vehicle. (it's her car and she will be the only driver)